Are you a man interested in losing belly fat? Are you looking for healthy ways to lose belly fat? Can exercising help me lose belly fat? What factors cause belly fat? Do you want to learn how to lose belly fat for men? If you are looking for answers to these and more questions, this article is for you.
Hi. My name is Sean Galla. As a support group facilitator, I know how important it is for a person to have a support system when aiming to achieve specific goals.
It may seem too challenging and even impossible if you are considering embarking on a weight-loss journey for medical or personal reasons. However, with determination, the correct information, and discipline, it is possible to lose that belly fat and live your best-fit life.
If you are a man looking for guidance on how to lose belly fat and stay fit, this article is for you.
Table of Contents:
How to Lose Belly Fat for Men – Understanding body fat
Muffin top, spare tire, and visceral fat are terms commonly used to describe belly fat.
For most men, losing abdominal or belly fat is a common goal for weight loss. Generally, body fat serves different functions for the body, including storing energy and hormone regulation. Therefore, maintaining a reasonable fat percentage is recommended for overall health. Even so, having too much body fat around the belly is considered unhealthy for different reasons.
Generally, there are two types of belly fat that affect men’s health. There is subcutaneous fat, which is stored just under the skin. This type of fat is healthy and present throughout the body. The second type of belly fat is visceral fat. This type of fat grows deeper in your midsection and is used by the body for cushioning around organs, meaning it is most present in the abdomen. Having high amounts of visceral fat is considered unhealthy and even life-threatening. It is linked to health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
This is why it is advisable to maintain visceral fat at a minimum and lose any excess. Losing excess visceral fat can impact your health in many ways.
To check if you have excess belly fat as a man, you can measure the circumference around your belly area using a tape measure. For men, a circumference above 102cm (40 inches) is considered to be abdominal obesity.
What causes belly fat in men?
Different factors can cause fat to develop around the belly area. Most nutritionists will say a poor diet, reduced body activity, and an imbalance in caloric intake and output cause belly fat.
Sitting all day and moving the body less significantly contributes to weight gain, including growing fat around the midsection. Sometimes, hormones, especially stress hormones, can cause fat gain around the abdomen.
Generally, men need to maintain high testosterone levels to maintain healthy body fat distribution. Excess visceral fat interferes with the body’s ability to produce sufficient testosterone, increasing fat storage and even more fat around the midsection.
Other common causes of increased belly fat in men include:
Poor diet
Eating unhealthy foods too often, including fatty foods and sugary foods, often leads to weight gain. When coupled with no physical activity, it causes the metabolism to slow down, which increases fat storage.
Excessive alcohol consumption
Beer belly is a common slang for the bulging belly caused by alcohol intake. Alcohol is not just unhealthy to the liver. If you indulge in alcohol too often, you probably also struggle with weight gain, especially around the belly.
Stress
If you are under a lot of stress for prolonged periods, the stress hormone cortisol rises, suppressing the fat-burning hormone. This slows down the process of fat loss, prompting weight gain.
Poor sleep
Numerous studies emphasize the importance of high-quality sleep in your health. Poor sleep quality and quantity will often lead to weight gain. When you are up for longer than needed, you have a higher chance of consuming more calories than your body needs, and the lack of sleep boosts stress hormone production. Both factors are linked to weight gain.
Genes
If you come from a family where most men have stubborn belly far, you have a higher chance of developing stubborn belly fat if you do not adhere to a lifestyle change and fitness.
How to lose belly fat for men
One of the most popular myths about weight loss is that it is possible to burn belly fat with some exercises like crunches or hundreds of sit-ups. No science proves the possibility of targeting fat in different areas of your body. Therefore, you will also need to embark on a whole-body fitness journey to lose visceral fat.
Weight gain and weight loss happen all over the body, with some men gaining fat around their bellies faster than others. Your genes primarily determine the unique pattern of how your body puts on weight.
Here is how to lose belly fat for men.
Limit your intake of sugar and sugary foods and drinks
Consuming a diet high in processed sugars has been found to cause excess abdominal fat. According to studies, added sugar negatively impacts metabolic health.
This is because added sugar comprises high levels of fructose, which support the buildup of fat around the liver and abdomen. When you consume too much sugar, the liver is overloaded with fructose, forcing it to turn the excess sugar into body fat for storage.
High blood sugar levels or glucose levels lead to insulin resistance and metabolic complications. When trying to minimize sugar intake, staying away from liquid calories is essential.
To curb belly fat and increased body weight, you must reduce sugar consumption, limiting sweetened beverages, fruit juice, sugary sodas, and high-sugar sports drinks.
Consume foods high in dietary fiber
Dietary fiber is simply indigestible plant matter with many digestive health benefits, it is present in most unprocessed foods, including whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables.
since it is not absorbed, dietary fiber is excreted from the body without being absorbed. The fiber will bind water to form a thick gel that sits in your gut longer than food. This increases satiety, curbs hunger, and make you eat fewer calories.
The gel formed from fiber and water slows down the movement of food through the digestive tract and the absorption and digestion of nutrients. This leaves you feeling fuller for longer, which promotes less eating and more weight loss.
Adapt an exercise routine
Strength training, meditation for men, weight training, and cardiovascular exercise are the best ways to boost weight loss and maintaining healthy weight.
Remember, you cannot spot-reduce.
Therefore, focusing on building healthy exercise habits is often advisable, and weight loss will follow. Weight training exercises like lunges and squats are ideal for muscle mass growth.
You can take up aerobic exercises or cardio such as swimming, running, or walking to reduce belly fat by boosting your daily energy requirements, which leads to more fat-burning for energy and eventually a trimmer waistline. Also, high intensity interval training (HIIT) and resistance training are ideal for fat loss and building lean muscle.
Consider adopting a new diet
Common options include keto and intermittent fasting. A ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrates diet used to help you burn more body fat while IF helps to reduce your eating window, which limits how much you can eat in a day, therefore promoting weight management. Before embarking on such a lifestyle change, it is essential to consult your doctor and a dietitian, as some of these diets are only ideal for some.
If your goal is to lose body fat faster, you can reduce your carbs intake by about 50g/day to get your body to ketosis. In this state, your body will be prompted to burn stored fat to meet your daily energy requirements.
It is also worth noting that reducing carbs can also suppress your appetite, leading to weight loss. Some of the weight you lose will include stubborn belly fat.
Up your lean protein intake
Proteins are an essential macronutrient for weight loss, and help to build muscle. According to studies, people who include protein in their diet plan have less abdominal fat and smaller waist size.
With the proper protein intake, it is possible to improve satiety (the feeling of being full), which in turn curbs hunger and cravings. Eating foods high in protein also boosts metabolism and supports stronger muscles.
If losing stubborn belly fat is the goal, adding enough protein for your body’s caloric needs can effectively boost your weight loss journey.
Join Mensgroup – a weight loss support group for men
Just like women, men go through stress when learning how to lose belly fat in men. To ensure you stick to your weight-loss goal, Mensgroup is a men-only support group that offers guidance, resources, and tips on how to lose belly fat for men and keep it off.
At mensgroup, the members know how important it is for men to have a safe space to share their weight loss challenges, goals, and ideas without feeling judged or misunderstood. In the group of fellow men, you are sure to reach your weight loss goal and learn healthy ways to keep the belly fat off.
Conclusion
Losing belly fat can be challenging if you do not have the right information. With the information in this article, you are better placed to make more informed lifestyle chokies to increase your chances of losing stubborn belly fat for good. If you have difficulty sticking to your weight loss routine, joining a group like Mensgroup can go a long way to help you achieve your goal. Being around other men who understand what you are going through builds your confidence, boosts men’s mental health, and makes it easier to stick to the process. If you want to successfully lose stubborn belly fat, join a weight loss support group today.
